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Competing for the Future

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COMPETING FOR THE FUTURE

Strategy as Stretch
Strategy must be built upon the juncture of where the firm is and where it wants to be.
It is not cash that fuels the journey to the future, but the emotional & intellectual energy of every employee.
Imagine you were an investor who, a decade or two ago, was asked to choose between the following pairs of firms as long-term investment opportunities:
Where would you have put your money?
Most investors would probably have been tempted to invest in the firms in the left column. Why?
These firms had strong reputations, technological riches & deep pockets. They could hire the most talented people in their industry, had sizable market shares and in most cases, had a worldwide distribution presence. In short, they had resources. Yet, they lost much of their leadership to firms with far fewer visible resources.
Take the example of RCA & SONY?
RCA had almost single-handedly created the color television industry in U.S., and every competitor relied on RCA patents, products of one of the world’s outstanding research laboratories. How could Sony out-innovate the U.S. consumer electronics pioneers?
Conclusion: Starting resource positions are a very poor predictor of future industry leadership. A firm can sit on huge amount of cash & talented people, and still lose its preeminent position. Likewise, a firm can sometimes overcome enormous resource handicaps & successfully scale the heights of industry leadership.
The point here is that too often competitors are judged in terms of resources rather than resourcefulness.
Resourcefulness stems not from an elegantly structured strategic architecture but from deeply felt sense of purpose, a broadly shared dream and a truly seductive view of tomorrow’s opportunity.
Strategic intent is the term for such a dream.
Strategic Intent
Strategic intent implies a

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